Shipan on partisanship and voting for Supreme Court Nominees
Abstract: It is by now well known that ideological concerns have a major influence on senator’s votes over Supreme Court nominees. Much less is understood, however, about the effects of partisanship. This study investigates two aspects of partisanship – first, whether confirmation voting has become more partisan over time, even when controlling for other factors, such as ideology; and second, whether partisanship modifies the influence of ideology. The results demonstrate that partisanship has played an increasing role over time and that the effects of ideology are, to some extent, dependent on partisanship.
Charles R. Shipan (2007), “Partisanship, Ideology, and Senate Voting on Supreme Court Nominees,” unpublished paper. Available here.